The Dark Before the Dawn
by mrs.salvatore39
Summary: AU set before Homecoming...Damon and Elena are at the Boarding House when a suprise attack leaves one brother dead, another wounded and Elena's broken heart needing comfort. angsty LEMON happy ending though... REUPLOAD


_a/n: so, this is clearly slight AU. I just had this picture in my head and I had to get it out. I wanted to write it before the Homecoming episode but things just didn't work out with all the requests and then the exchange came along and I left behind my own personal ideas. So here it is, a completely random yet dramatic and smutty story for your entertainment. Happy Reading!_

_p.s. there are six drabbles here…. Hehe_

_p.p.s. WARNING: Stefan dies….sorry _

Damon's eyes followed the pencil as Elena lightly chewed on it. She held it in her mouth for a moment, and then pulled it out to speak. He didn't hear a word she said, only nodded his head dumbly as the pencil went back between her lips. Her mouth curled into a smile, but all he noticed was her tongue swirling around the eraser as she thought about the next move. He noticed his hands were clenched into fists on top of the desk and did his best to subtlety slip them from her sight. If she was torturing him on purpose, she was definitely very good at it.

She pulled the pencil back out once more to point at something on the photo of a cave drawing they were studying, her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought. He watched her tongue dart out to soothe the bite marks, then everything seemed to stop and her smiled faded to a smirk. "Have you heard a single word I've said?" she asked her voice a bit louder.

"Huh?" he looked up to her eyes, a little embarrassed to see that there was glittering humor in them. She knew exactly what had distracted him. "Yeah, sure sure. Of course."

"Damon, I need you to focus. Homecoming is just a few days away."

"I know that." His tone was slightly more defensive than normal, his guilt for thinking naughty thoughts about what her tongue and mouth could do to him would probably have made him blush were it physically possible.

She knew her smirk would never be good enough to rival his so she held it back, relenting and dropping the pencil onto the desk. "You know what? It's fine, I'm tired anyway."

Damon watched her hands go to her neck, kneading and massaging the sore muscles. Before sitting down at the desk to research a few hours ago they'd spent at least three hours after dinner training. "It looks like you're more sore than anything."

She mumbled something under her breath as she fought to reach a particularly stubborn muscle. "At least we know I'm getting stronger."

He nodded, the sound of the chair scraping as he pushed back to stand didn't distract her as she let out a little moan. The noise went straight to him, exciting him. He pushed back the fire flash of lust and moved to stand behind her. "Let me, will you?"

He nearly batted her out of the way as he reached to massage her shoulders. "You don't have to."

"I want to." His voice was as stubborn as the muscles she'd been trying to loosen so she let go and leaned back into his touch.

Damon's hand were a lot gentler than she expected, at least this time around. The only touches she'd gotten from him lately were rough or near violent as he taught her to defend herself. This was certainly a nice change. The skin was a little rough in places where he touched, but his soothing movements seemed to outbalance any discomfort. Her muscles were definitely sore from all the working he and Ric had been putting her through, and the sleepless nights of tossing and turning hadn't exactly been helping either. She was getting stronger though, that was apparent, but the aches in her shoulders had yet to fade. She knew it was dangerous to accept Damon's offer of a massage, but his eyes had seemed sincere; an unspoken promise not to try anything.

The only problem was that deep down something inside of her was hoping that he would try something anyway. I felt his thumbs move under the straps of her shirt, putting just the slightest amount of pressure on the knot of pain that resided there. It loosened and she nearly moaned aloud, wondering if she had when he chuckled a little. His warm breath fanned the back of her neck and she found herself leaning into his touch a little more deliberately. Everything about Damon seemed intensified today and she couldn't help but wishing he'd throw the rule book out the window this one time.

"That feels so good." She hadn't realized how lusty her voice would sound until she'd already spoken.

He wouldn't let that one slide, he couldn't. She felt him lean down, his lips close to her ear. "You like that do you?"

She nodded, her head falling back on his chest as his fingers worked slowly down over the front of her shoulders, lightly walking down her collarbone. It was a test for both of them, and they both knew it. She could barely breath, she could barely think and she was seconds away from getting out of the chair and jumping him before a loud crash down stairs made her tense up. "What was that?"

Damon had been so focused on Elena, on her scent and the rapid beats of her heart that he hadn't been listening to anything else. Another loud crash downstairs had his fingers gripping into her tightly and she gasped in pain. "Sorry." He muttered a quick apology and pulled her out of the chair. "Stay here."

"No way." She shook her head and followed him to the door, her body close to his but not touching.

Damon whirled on her, his eyes on fire and twisted up into a glare. "Don't argue with me right now. That could be Klaus down there, and you cannot be hurt."

"He won't hurt me, he needs me."

"Just stay." With that he slipped out of the door and left her alone.

It took a matter of two minutes before Elena went after him. When she reached the living room all hell had broken loose. The Salvatore brothers were fighting off hybrids left and right while Klaus sat on the couch calmly drinking from a bottle of Damon's favorite scotch. She stepped into the sunken room, her scent finally catching the nose of every monster in the house. As if on cue they all turned to look at her…at least the ones that were still breathing. "Damon." She gasped, seeing a hybrid take the moment of distraction to wrap his arm around his neck tightly.

"I told you to stay upstairs." His voice was barely more than a needful croak as he was slowly strangled and she stepped forward.

"Let him go."

Damon allowed his heart to soar at her defense, not letting the fact slip from his attention that she hadn't take one look at Stefan just yet. "Get out of here."

Then she turned to Klaus and glared. "Tell them to let him go."

"Sorry dear, they have their orders." Klaus's drone did nothing to smooth over her nerves, his charm having little affect on her after all the harm he'd done.

"I asked you nicely."

"No." Klaus took another drink and smiled into the bottle. "You're more than welcome to join the party however."

With a wave of his hand a stationary hybrid stepped forward and quickly wrapped his arms around her, squeezing almost to a crushing level. Damon growled against the hold he was currently in and tried to step forward. "Let her go or I'll kill you."

Klaus simply laughed and crossed his legs. "Finish them."

The hybrids took the order to heart and unfroze. The next few minutes were a blur and Elena could barely keep straight how many she'd hit and knocked out. Unfortunately it was like fighting off a cracked up addict. They went down hard, but the adrenaline had them coming right back up. She kicked and punched, sending a few to the floor. The brothers freed themselves, took advantage of the fallen ones and ripped out their hearts before they were attacked again. Elena felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and quickly threw her elbow back feeling the bone connect with a nose and break it. She knew that the wound would heal within moments so she had to act fast.

As the inhuman creature hissed in pain and stumbled slightly forward she ducked, tripping him over her. She watched Damon's fist go through the hybrids back, his heart carelessly tossed next to the body as Damon turned to grab a new hybrid by the throat. There had to be at least fifteen of them still alive. She was so focused on making sure that Damon was alright that she missed seeing two hybrids gang up on Stefan. At the last moment she saw the stake, saw it plunge through his stomach. His scream had her stepping forward on instinct, but Klaus jumped and quickly grabbed her, holding her back.

Damon turned as well but he couldn't move either as two hybrids pinned him to the ground. Everyone watched as the stake was removed from Stefan's stomach and then plunged into his chest. Damon's angry growl rang in Elena's ears as he watched his brother turn grey and slump to the ground. Elena felt a part of her heart breaking and lunged forward, even knowing there was nothing she could do now. Klaus released her, letting her run to the now dead body of her ex boyfriend. She pulled Stefan's head into her lap, brushing the hair back from his gray face. He was gone, he was really gone this time.

"I'm sorry dear." Klaus looked down at her, just a few inches from her now. "I didn't want this to happen."

"You bastard." She stood, turning slowly and then she lunged.

The sheer surprise worked to her advantage and she got Klaus onto his back, her attention fully on him. She hadn't seen that the death of Stefan, the loss of a brother had given Damon a new rush of adrenaline. He'd quickly worked through seven hybrids. They worked together, but not really noticing. Elena let the rage and despair take over, her training forgotten for the moment as she simply beat Klaus into the wood floor. He let her have a few shots before flipping over and pinning her to the floor. She knew she could be dead within half a moment, but he didn't move…just stared down at her and smiled.

"Sometimes things have to be done for the greater good."

"Save your quips for someone that gives a shit." She spat in his face, quickly bringing her knee up between his legs. It was a cheap shot and she knew it, but he was a egotistical maniac and deserved a hell of a lot worse. "Go to hell."

Then all of a sudden Klaus screamed and reared back. Elena spotted the tip of a stake reach through his chest from the back and looked up to find Damon standing over them. They both knew it would take more than that to kill Klaus, but for the moment it was good enough. Elena shoved the dead weight off her and pushed back, crawling back to Stefan's body, knowing that Damon's eyes were on hers. She knew her clothes were stained with blood, knew her hands were covered in them but she grabbed Stefan anyway and cradled his head back in her lap. Damon slumped to his knees next to her, his brother's hand in his.

They sat like that for a while, not speaking and neither really breathing. Damon knew that they didn't have very long in peace before Klaus would wake up and he had to get the bodies out of here, including Stefan's. There was room in the Salvatore plot he knew but he couldn't bring himself to bury his brother tonight. The body would have to go downstairs for now, until he could deal with it. For all he cared the hybrids could be thrown over the cliff. When Elena's tears had stopped and she'd stopped shaking for the most part he pulled her up and walked her to the stairs.

The look on her face was nearly trance like, but she moved even when he stopped pushing her. He had to clean up, and then he was going to go to bed.

Elena stood in Stefan's room, looking around at all the things he'd kept for the past hundred years. It all meant something, each piece meant something, whether it was journal or a rock and roll poster. It was all a part of him, a part of the man she loved. She'd lost him months ago, before Klaus had ordered him to flip the switch but tonight had made it final, tonight had made it all real. She cried relentlessly, but silently and walked over to the bed. The comforter smelled like him, overpowering the blood for a few minutes. She could almost pretend he was sitting next to her before reality struck and the tears started all over.

Damon was awake, he'd been awake for a few minutes but he'd yet to open his eyes. Last night had been long and hard and he desperately wished he could just go back to sleep. Not that he'd gotten much anyway. Probably no more than an hour altogether since finally crawling into bed six hours ago. Klaus had been gone when he'd returned from disposing the last of the hybrids. Stefan was safe downstairs until tomorrow when he could bring himself to compel a grave digger into making a plot. He shifted a little in his bed and groaned at the sore muscles in his back and neck. All the hours he'd spent training with Elena or bent over the desk staring at the stupid pictures or reading more history had taken a toll on his body, then of course there was the battle

The thought of a nice hot shower was definitely tempting, and his mind continue to seduce him into sitting up. He had to get the rest of the blood out of his hair. That was when his ears caught the sound of water already running. He thought back to who could possibly be in the shower and then he remembered; he'd never actually seen Elena leave last night. Not that she would have been allowed to if he had anything to do with. Someone in her condition after seeing what she'd seen and dealt with the emotional aspect of the battle atop the physical had no right to drive herself anywhere. Carefully and quietly he slipped out of the sheet and walked toward the half open door of his bedroom. Her light crying hit his ears as he stepped into the bathroom the steam surrounded his body as he slipped behind her.

Elena sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. The steam from the shower she'd just gotten out of had fogged the mirror, but she swiped at it, leaving a bare; hand sized streak. She'd managed to get most of the blood out of her hair. She shuddered at the memory of what had gone down earlier and felt her throat closing up as the flashes of violence they'd all been subjected to came back to her. She shut her eyes, squeezing them tight against the memories, willing them to go away. When she opened them again, Damon was standing behind her, his eyes warm and his smile comforting. She thought about scolding him, yelling at him about privacy but knew it would do no good.

Damon could see the pain in her eyes, watched as fresh tears poured down her face silently. She'd washed the grime and evidence of the battle away, along with her makeup and even though her face was red, just the slightest bit puffy from the tears, he couldn't help but to want her. It might have had something to do with the fact that she stood before him in nothing but a towel, her wet hair dripping down her back, but in the moment that seemed trivial. Damn, he really must be in love if even now, in this moment while she wept for his brother, he found her beautiful. "I want to ask if you're alright but I know how ridiculous that will sound."

She nodded, roughly wiping away the tears from under her eyes. "Thank you."

He ached to wrap his arms around her, but she'd been manhandled enough for one night and he didn't know if she'd even want to be touched at all. "Did you sleep?"

"No, did you?"

"Not really." He tilted his head, keeping their gazes locked in the reflection. "Do you want me to drive you home?"

She shook her head, reaching for his hand behind her and placing it on her stomach. "No, I…don't want to be alone."

He glanced at her blood stained clothes on the floor in the corner and dismissed the idea of having her dress in them again. "Come with me."

She followed him back to his room, saying nothing. "Stay with me?" he asked, his eyes promising not to try anything like they had before in the gym. "I don't want to be alone either." Her answer was a nod as she stepped toward the bed and let him pull the sheet back for her. "I'll be back in a minute."

Again she only nodded as he sped back to the bathroom, his jeans ending up on top of her clothes. They were a lost cause. He let the water beat over his back, let the heat rinse the evidence away and took the time to calm his dead heart, soothe his nerves a little, and then for a minute he allowed himself to cry over his brother. Stefan had been the last family in the world he'd had and now he was completely alone. There was no one in this world that knew him as good, loved him as much. Elena was all he had left. With a curse he turned the water off and wrapped the last towel around his waist. When he was back in his room he saw the outline of Elena's body in his bed.

Of course, he would have the woman of his dreams naked between his sheets finally, and it would be a night like this. He growled inwardly at the irony and left the towel on the floor next to his side of the mattress. She was awake, he could tell from the rate of her heart and the unevenness of her breathing. "Hi." He whispered once he'd slipped in next to her.

"Hi." Her voice was so quiet, so small. Everything about her seemed small as she cuddled close to him. The towel she'd been wearing when he'd left was gone and he fought not to think about her like a sex object. It was hard, but after what had happened tonight he knew his chances of seducing her were one in a billion. "Damon, hold me."

He realized his arms were stiff and unyielding. With great control he forced them to relax and wrap around her. "I'm so sorry about Stefan."

"Me too." She pressed a kiss to his bare chest and closed her eyes. "What a mess of a day."

"We're going to have to deal with arrangements tomorrow."

"I know." She whispered, refusing to let anymore tears fall. She wasn't even sure if her body could produce anymore. "Is it wrong that I just want to close my eyes and forget all about it?"

He shook his head and held her tightly. "Of course not."

Elena sighed, sunk into him and the mattress deeper as he rubbed slow circles over her back. "Try to sleep."

"I'm scared."

He turned so he was facing her, their legs tangling instinctively, his fingers lacing through her hair and cradling her against him. "I'm right here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She wanted to say something comforting, wanted to take the pain out of his voice but knew there was nothing she could do to make him feel better right now. She remembered the last time she'd been in this bed feeling hopeless, needing to comfort him. He'd been the one dying, but right now it felt like both of them were dying, both of them needed this. She lifted her head slightly and bent over him, their lips touching briefly. Damon's grip tightened on her immediately as he pulled her closer, but he didn't kiss back. "What's wrong?" she whispered, pulling back to look at him.

His eyes were dark, the lines of his face hard. "Don't do this, not tonight."

"You don't want to?"

He shook his head, forcing his fingers to soften on her skin before he bruised anymore of her body than the hybrids had already. "The time is hardly romantic." His tone was sarcastic, almost cold but she didn't let it detour her away.

"I need this, we need this."

"And in the morning?"

She couldn't promise things she didn't know herself without risking hurting him more. It wasn't fair to either of them to dream past reality. "Can't we deal with that then?"

"No." Damon shook his head and shifted slightly further away from her. "You can stay here with me, but you can't tempt me when nothing will come of it. We're both too fragile right now. You just watched Stefan die…what you're feeling is the same thing people feel before they have sex in the bathroom at funerals."

"Don't tell me what I feel." She pushed up on her elbow, glaring down at him through the darkness angrily. "I know what I'm feeling, you don't."

"The hell I don't! I lost him too!" their voices were getting slightly higher, slightly angrier with each minute. "He was my brother!"

"I know that!" she yelled back, straddling him when he looked away and wouldn't look back. "Don't ignore me."

"Get off me." He shot fire through the dark at her and she shrunk back but didn't move away.

"You are so stupid." She muttered under her breath and shook her head. "You're really going to reject me when I need you the most?"

"You'll regret it in the morning, trust me."

"How do you know? Dammit Damon, we could all die tomorrow. Tonight should have taught you that! Klaus's attack wasn't random…it was planned. He planned to come here and finish you both off tonight!" then her voice suddenly got a lot quieter, a lot softer and Damon felt the first tear drops on his bare chest as she cried. "I could have lost you both tonight."

The wall he'd built up around his heart carefully to stop anything like this happening quickly crumbled to dust as he sat up and held her against him. Her legs went around his waist, their naked bodies shockingly close. Elena let the tears fall, let her sobs be muffled by his strong chest, let him hold her. She played with the ends of his hair, moved closer and brushed against the very body part that told her just how much he wanted her. "You didn't lose us both." He whispered, rubbing her back lightly. "I'm right here."

"Prove it." She pressed her lips to his chest, up his neck, over his chin until she found his mouth. "Prove you still love me."

He sighed, then all at once she was on her back and her legs were tightening around his waist. "I hate what you do to me." He glared, bending down to kiss her. "I try to do the honorable thing and you won't let me. What the hell is that?"

Elena couldn't believe it, but they were actually making out and fighting at the same time. How very…them. "It's just the way we are. The timing is just never right…we have to make our own time."

He'd never heard a better argument and reached between them to find that she was already wet. The feel of her arousal drove him insane and he suddenly ached to be inside her. This wasn't the way to grieve his brother, he knew that…felt it in his soul but he just couldn't deny this woman anything…and he certainly couldn't deny himself anymore either. "You couldn't have picked last night to be a time?" he hissed, controlling himself from thrusting into her, she wasn't making it any easier by rubbing up against him though.

"Shut up and make love to me." She ordered, her voice losing some of its authority with the breathlessness.

He moved her hips down, held them securely in his hands and slowly slid inside her, careful to let her adjust to him, making sure that she felt every sensation. If she wanted this, she was going to enjoy it, even if it killed him. He gritted his teeth, willing his fangs to stay hidden as the lust and drive to simply fuck her clawed at him. "Dangerous words Elena." He warned, finally allowing himself to fill her.

She gasped, her nails digging into his biceps the second he began to move over her. "Oh God."

He wanted to say something smart, something slap worthy but the moment wasn't right…the moment wasn't right for any of this dammit…but fuck did it ever feel good. She tightened around him, held possessively as he slid slowly out and then back in. She begged for more, wanted deeper and he gave what he could. He'd never imagined to be relentless in bed, although he'd imagined this enough ways to satisfy a man's fantasies for fifty years. She was better than any dream, her scent…the sounds she made. "Hold on." He murmured her ear before flipping them over so she was on top.

Their movements barely stopped for more than a second as she adjust to the new position. The room was dark, almost shockingly dark so she felt comfortable to sit up, either not realizing or caring that he could see perfectly. She moaned quietly when his hands smoothed up her ribs to caress her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples hard before letting his tongue taste more of her skin. She moaned again, and Damon felt her tighten further. "You feel so good." She mumbled, leaning down to kiss him.

His fingers dug into her hips, moving their bodies together in harmony. She had been right, even though he hated to admit it. This was exactly what he needed…just her. It was all he ever needed. He said a quick prayer of forgiveness to a God he hadn't prayed to in over a hundred years and kissed her back, finally letting go and forgetting about everything but her. Stefan had more than let her go months ago and his true death was the final tearing of the contract that held Elena to him. Now she was free…now she was Damon's. He wouldn't smile at the thought, but he would rejoice inwardly and make sure that she knew it just as he did.

His fangs pierced the skin of the throat as she came finally, shaking over him. His arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her against him and caressing her sides to keep her calm. She moaned, pleased as they released together, pleased as their bond strengthened through the human and vampire act of joining. When he heard the skip in her heart he pulled back, finding her smiling. That was a sight he hadn't expected to see ever again, but she was…and it was for him. That was what he would remember when tomorrow came and she hated him for letting her do this, when she went back to grieving for his brother.

One Week Later…

Damon twirled the ring on his finger as he watched her through the window. The sunlight shone down on her, turning the ends of her hair and fiery red color. It was in his nature to ward off from the sun, but he thanked Emily for creating the ring for him so he didn't have to. Seeing Elena outside in the bright, warm rays of day was exactly what he needed after the week they'd just been through. He'd lost a brother, she'd lost the first love of her life, but they'd both freed themselves from the hold that the Originals had on them. Klaus was dead thanks to Mikeal, Katherine had helped clear out the rest of the hybrids with Rebekah and slowly things had started to return to normal.

The night Stefan had died was still fresh in his mind and he knew from the nightmares she'd been having that Elena had not yet forgotten it. Time would heal them both he knew, and so would their love for each other. He may have lost the only family that he'd known…but in that loss he'd gained something else…he'd gained her. She was laughing and smiling, doing her best to grab the football before Matt threw it to Jeremy. It almost looked like a painting, and not one that he could intrude on.

Then she stopped, stopped moving, stopped laughing and looked at him. Just looked; the smile on her lips growing as their eyes connected. She waved at him to come outside, the only invitation he needed to get over his neurosis and join the only family he had left. Tyler had the ball now and threw it to him with the hybrid strength he'd only just begun to tap into. The only hybrid left from the aftermath of Klaus. Caroline laughed and tackled him, their mutual strength sending them both to the ground. Then she turned and smiled at Damon. Alaric clapped his hand on his shoulder and pushed him toward Elena. Damon didn't stumble but he felt like he might fall if she didn't touch him.

He needed a sign, some kind of proof that she didn't regret belonging to him, that she didn't want to take back any of the promises she'd made in the last few days. Her smile was all the reassurance he needed, for that alone spoke volumes. Maybe he did belong in the sun after all, but more importantly as everyone made room for him and she moved to wrap her arms around him, he knew he belonged with her.

_a/n: well, honestly I seriously considered scraping this and forgetting I even wrote it. I really love the 'sunshine' drabble at the end…the image of Damon standing inside and watching everyone in the sun is just so heartbreaking…but I know that killing Stefan was horrible. I'm posting anyway (obviously lol) and I hope you found something that spoke to you at least. Now, onto a new one-shot. Just had to get this one out of my system._


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